In his 1991 work Out For Justice, tough guy Seagal played an avenging police detective. Now life has imitated art for the martial arts expert with the 13-part docusoap, which is produced by ITV Studios Inc, the US production arm of ITV.

In the series, Seagal serves as a deputy sheriff in the reserve division of the Jefferson parish sheriff's office, outside New Orleans.

He accompanies police through the Louisiana badlands to catch criminals, although he has to play it by the book in a way his fictional escapades never restricted him.

"He thinks he's a sheriff, he believes his own movies" said a source connected with the programme. "That's why it's such brilliant TV."